Ball-grinding machine



Feb. 24, 1925.

J. J. M INTYRE BALL GRINDING MACHINE 2 Sheets'-Sheet 1 Filed April 6, 1921 MW 'li Feb. 24, 1925. 1,527,808

J. J. MCINTYRE BALL GRINDING MACHINE Filed April 6, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W XW WTTO/FNE'Y Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES A 1,527,808 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. MOINTYRE, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

BALL-GRINDING MACHINE.

Application filed April 6, 1921. Serial No. 459,028.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN J. MoIN'rYnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ball-Grinding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention contemplates improvements in those machines which are provided for grinding metallic ball blanks to approximately final shape and size.

The object of the invention is the production of a machine of this character in which the action is such that the ball blanks will be rapidly and accurately fed, ground and discharged and the grinding members will wear uniformly so that their use may be continued until they are entirely Worn away.

This object is attained by feeding the ball blanks to a rotatory carrier which conducts the blanks between an annular rotatory bed, desirably made of metal and an annular rotatory platen, desirably made of emery, which members are rotated in opposite directions and at different speeds, the axis of the carrier being eccentric to the axes of the bed and platen so that the path of the blanks will be completely across the oppositely rotating annular grinding surfaces. This path of the blanks subjects them to the action of three different forees,that of the bed rotating at one speed in one direction, that of the platen rotating at a much higher speed in the opposite direction and that of the carrier which rotates at a still different speed and carries the blanks eccentrically between the grinding surfaces, the effect of which insures the accurate reduction of the blanks and uniform wear on the grinding surfaces.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a machine which embodies the invention with parts out in central vertical section. Figure 2 shows a horizontal section on the plane indicated by the dotted line 22 on Fig. 1. Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the plane indicated by the dotted line 33 on Fig. 1.

The annular bed 1, which is commonly formed of cast iron, is fastened to the upper surface of a gear 2 that is mounted so that it may turn on the annular track 3, located on the top of the frame 4. The gear is engaged by a pinion 5 fastened to the upper end of a vertical shaft 6 supported by the frame. This shaft has a bevel gear 7 that meshes with a bevel gear 8 on a horizontal shaft 9 which is provided with a pulley 10.

This pulley is belted to a pulley 11 on a threaded at its lower end. Fitted on the threaded end of the bushing is a sleeve 20 provided with radial pins 21 by means of which it may be turned. Fastened to the lower end of the sleeve is a plate 22 on which rests a collar secured to the shaft. By screwing the sleeve up and down. the shaft may be raised and lowered for adjusting the distunce between the annular working faces of the grinding platen and bed." The axes of the platen and bed are coineident and the platen is desiened to be rotated in one direotion at relativelv high speed while the bed is designed to be rotated in the opposite direetion at onsiderably lower speed.

The ball blanks are deposited in a hopper 24 located on the top of the frame and are fed through a spout 25 into perforations 26 arran ed annularlv near the edge of a thin metallic disc 27 that extends between the Working faces of the bed and platen. This carrier disc is fastened to the upper end of a vertical shaft 28 that is supported near its upper end by a bushing 29 in the top of the frame and supported near its lower end by anti-friction bearin s 30 arranged above a boss 31 which projects upward from the bottom of the frame. On the shaft 28, which is arranged eccentrically with r lation to the axes of the grinding platen and bed. is aworm gear 32 that is engaged by a worm 33 on the horizontal driving shaft 12.

Beneath the carrier plate on the feed side of the annular bed is a plate 34 for supporting the ball blanks until they pass between the grinding surfaces and located in the platen is a ring 35 whi h prevents the blanks from jumping out of the carrier as they pass inside of the grinding surfaces. This ring is fastened to the lower ends of rods 36 which are loosely retained by the platen carrying disc and are connected at their upper ends by a ring 37. The blanks are free to drop from the holes in the carrier plate after they have passed to the outside at the back from between the grinding surfaces.

The carrier disc is rotated very slowly beneath the feed spout and between the working faces of the annular grinding platen and bed in the same directionas the rapidly rotatedplaten. The eccentricity of the carrier disc is such that the ball blanks are carried from the outside across to the inside and then to the outside of the path of the grinding surfaces. In thus traveling, the blanks pass twice completely across the grinding face of the annular emery platen so that the entire face of that member is uniformly worn down. As the blanks are subjected to the rolling action of the slowrunnin carrier disc, the more rapidly rolling action of the metallic bed plate and the still more rapidly rolling action of the emery platen they are reduced rapidly and accurately to very nearly final spherical shape and size.

The invention claimed is:

1. A ball grinding machine comprising two rotatory annular grinding members with their axes of rotation coincident and having means for rotating the grinding members at different speeds, a rotatory ball blank carrying member with its axis of rotation within the circumference of the grinding members but eccentric to the axes of both the grinding members, said carrying member having spaced openings adapted to receive and carry ball blanks across and beyond the working faces of both the grinding members, and means for rotating the carrying member continuously between the grinding members.

2. A ball grinding machine having an annular rotatory bed member, an annular rotator platen member, a rotatory carrying mem er with its axis eccentric to the axes of the bed and platen members and adapted to carry ball blanks between and across the working faces of said bed and platen mem bers, a blank support below a section of the carrying member outside of the bed and platen members and a blank retaining member above the section of the carrying plate inside of the bed and platen members.

3. A ball grinding machine having a rotatory annular bed, means for rotating the bed at one speed, a rotatory annular platen. means for rotating the platen at a high speed and in the op osite direction from the bed, means for a justing the s ace between the working faces of the iied and platen, a rotatory carrier with spaced openings for positively carrying ball blanks between the bed and platen, the axes of said bed and platen being coincident, and the axis of the carrier being eccentric thereto and means for rotating the carrier.

4. A ball grindin machine having a rotatory annular be a rotatory annular platen, a rotatory carrier with annularly located blank receiving perforations the axis of said carrier being arranged eccentrically of the axes of the bed and platen and means adapted tov rotate the bed, platen and carrier at different speeds.

JOHN J. MoINTYRE. 

